Make Music with Your iPad

I was originally looking for a book just on Garageband for ipad and came across this one. A great deal of this book is dedicated to how to work in Garageband, but it's got a lot of other useful info as well. I really liked the first part about the apps. While I have several music making apps already, I found some really good ones in this book, you know the kind I'll actually use! The sections on Garageband, are broken down into sections so it's easy to find just what your looking for. It covers everything from using the "smart Instruments" to recording acoustic instruments and vocals. The final part of the book walks you thru making your first song. It starts with planning it out and going all the way to mixing and editing and adding vocals. I can't imagine a more complete book on the subject. This book is very well suited for musicians who want to record their own instruments to someone who just wants to have some fun making music using all the amazing tools Garageband has to offer. I was brand new to recording with GB and after spending an afternoon with this book I have already started recording. GB has a lot to offer and this book will help you make use of it. Very glad I purchased this and highly recommend it!

I first checked the e-book version out from my local library and ended up buying a copy for myself before having to return the library copy because I didn't want to be without the book. I'm new to the iPad and the sheer volume of apps and hardware for making music with one was really overwhelming. Ben has written a clear, understandable and timely book that, for me at least, turned the rather daunting goal of integrating the iPad into my music making into something fun and relatively simple. With over 10 years of writing/editing "about Apple and digital creativity" as he puts it and a long history of musicianship (not to mention some of the rock star expert sources referenced frequently in the book) Ben definitely qualifies as a subject matter expert, and it definitely shows. The material is presented clearly and understandably without being dry or boring. He includes QR codes throughout the book proving links to the apps being discussed and/or sound clips to illustrate what is being discussed. And when I contacted Ben with a question about the book he replied with the answer within a day! Your results may vary, of course, and there's always a degree of subjectivity when deciding what apps and hardware solutions to recommend but I'm very pleased with his recommendations and the book as a whole.

Even though the technology changes so fast these days I found this book quite helpful. It covers a great deal of territory. There are great suggestions for apps that work seamlessly with the iPad. If I found only one helpful tip it would be worth the price, but you're sure to find many more. No regrets here!

I was looking for a book to help me do advanced recordings in Garage Band and this is definitely it. He explains how to use each instrument in detail, including lots of tricks that hadn't turned up anywhere, even on some pretty good YouTube videos. He also takes you through the full recording process, from choosing your key and tempo to mixing your finished song. The writing is clear and well-paced, and the pictures support the instruction very well. There were some minor discrepancies due to slight changes in the current version of GB but nothing you can't figure out easily.

If you know what DAW is and have worked with one or two - save your money. You will not find anything in this book that you either didn't know already or cannot easily figure out with the iOS GB built-in help. And as far as other apps and hardware are concerned, any "Top 10 Music Making Apps" rating on the Web will give you just as good a picture (if only fresher and more unbiased) - at no extra cost but your ISP charge. Selling that kind of book for 18 dollars (given that product itself only cost 4,99) is ridiculous, IMHO.

The book helps understand the features of garageband.

more reading than photos or diagrams, that was disappointing. if it works as it describes it may be worth the tedious read.

Basically an instruction manual with a very short tutorial in the back a few pages long. I did not get anything out of it that I did not already figured out already.

The text is informative but very sadly, the huge number of links to "sound clips" that are meant to provide examples of the various effects and edits in Garage Band, simply do not work - neither through the QR codes in the Kindle book, nor through the URLs to which the QR codes point. All they do is take you to the main SoundCloud site where you will search but will be unable to find any of the clips referred to. Obviously, that issue will also affect the print version.It's a real shame, but it's not even half a book. I have emailed the author to ask about this but he has not responded.

Still reading and studying the details. The whole book is very readable and helpful. If only so called 'instruction manuals' were as good!